Democrats promise a fight over voter ID in Texas

House warms up for voter ID billGOP may not have consensus on requirements, and Democrats vow a fight as lawmakers review Senate bill

NOLAN HICKS, AUSTIN BUREAU

Published
6:30 am CST, Thursday, January 27, 2011

AUSTIN — It's game, set, rematch for Republican and Democratic lawmakers as the contentious debate over voter ID legislation moves to the Texas House, after the bill's passage in the Senate on a party line vote.

Even while Senate Republicans were celebrating the Wednesday night win, it was unclear whether there was a consensus among House Republicans about what requirements the House version would include.

The House is not expected to take up the issue until committees are established in the coming weeks.

"It's a pretty clean bill as it comes to the House," said state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa. Chisum was one of the leaders of a group of conservatives who attempted to unseat Speaker of the House Joe Straus, claiming Straus was too moderate and that he would not pursue legislation that conservative activists long have pushed, such as a voter ID bill.

If the Senate bill is passed by the House and signed into law, it would require voters, with a few exceptions, to present a state-issued photo identification card in addition to a voter registration card, to cast a ballot at the polls.

Under the Senate bill, only five types of photo ID would be accepted: driver's license; state identification card; military identification card; a citizenship document with a photo, such as a passport; or concealed carry license.

One of the GOP representatives Straus picked to lead Republicans during the voter ID fight the last legislative session, Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said he would be interested in broadening the photo ID standards to include ID cards issued by local governments and public universities.

"The key thing that you need is a government-issued photo ID," King said. "I would even be fine if it were a state university or a state college ID."

An effort by state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, to insert such a proviso into the Senate bill was defeated.

The voter ID bill passed by the Senate is stricter than a similar measure approved by the body in 2009 in several ways; most notably, the 2009 bill would have allowed voters to use two forms of identification, as well as their voter registration cards, if they were unable to produce a photo ID. The bill passed by the Senate Wednesday includes no such allowance.

House Democrats promised a fierce fight against a voter ID bill even though they no longer have the votes to use parliamentary tactics to prevent the measure from passing.

"Bad public policy should be fought vigorously," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston. "Vigorously means so that everyone can understand why it's bad public policy and what impact that bad public policy will have on Texans."

Reaction among some Houston voters was mixed.

Elizabeth Gonzalez, an East End tax preparer, said she routinely shows ID when she votes, and does not necessarily have a problem with the proposal. But, she said, some naturalized citizens, recalling oppressive conditions in their former countries, may feel intimidated. If the measure becomes law, state officials should publicize its provisions to ethnic communities, using appropriate foreign languages and explicitly explaining what is necessary to vote, she said.

Wary of 'historical scars'

Damon Saunders, a black poet, said that for minorities, being forced to present photo identification likely will irritate "historical scars" of past efforts that kept them from voting.

"It touches feelings," he said. "They should just let us vote."

Coleman said the situation reminded him of when bars used to ask black men to present two forms of state identification before being allowed to have a drink.

"When I grew up, if they didn't want you in a club, they'd just ask you for two state ID's," he said. "These folks act like Jim Crow never happened, like literacy tests never happened. They act like the poll tax didn't exist."